Today, the center-left government of Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi fell after a vote of no confidence. I was in Spain when he was elected and distinctly remember mourning his ascent to power. I had hoped his fall would have come sooner, preferably while I was still in Rome, but this will have to do. As to what will happen now? Who knows, this is Italian politics after all. Hopefully a new election will be called and the conservative coalition, Forza Italia, will take over. All indicators point to a strong victory. Here's how the conservative opposition celebrated in the Senate after the vote, and further celebrations in the streets. The sign reads, "Prodi, to get home, call a taxi!!!" Conservative heavyweight Silvio Berlusconi summed up the reason for the left's fall: "It was an natural implosion resulting from inner contradictions." The left's coalition was a hodgepodge of Communists, moderate Catholics and environmentalists. They could rarely stop bickering among themselves to get anything done.
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